


Eyes Full of Stars

by Signsofsam



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Buck is a obsessed with space, Established Relationship, M/M, Not Beta Read, One Shot, Space Facts, The Author Regrets Nothing, Whump, buck's knowledge of useless facts, idek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 16:20:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30041385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Signsofsam/pseuds/Signsofsam
Summary: “Tell...tell me something about...about space.”It’s barely a whisper, the radio crackling, and Buck frowns, because Eddie’s voice is getting weaker. He’s trapped, somewhere under a pile of rubble from a partially collapsed building, and all Buck can do for him right now is sit on the jump seat Hen’s threatened to strap him to if he moves and talk to his boyfriend through the garbled, staticky mess coming through their radios.“Buck...tell me...tell me about space.Please.”
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 37
Kudos: 285
Collections: Finished 911 Stories I Love





	Eyes Full of Stars

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, this started out as a light-hearted 'Buck and Chris telling each other useless facts about space.' It ended up with **gestures below**.
> 
> I have no regrets.
> 
> Also, I am trash for space and cool space facts and I feel like Buck and Chris would be, too.
> 
> Title is from _Cowboy Like Me_ by Taylor Swift.

“Tell...tell me something about...about space.”

It’s barely a whisper, the radio crackling, and Buck frowns, because Eddie’s voice is getting weaker. He’s trapped, somewhere under a pile of rubble from a partially collapsed building, and all Buck can do for him right now is sit on the jump seat Hen’s threatened to strap him to if he moves and talk to his boyfriend through the garbled, staticky mess coming through their radios.

“Buck...tell me...tell me about space. _Please_.”

And oh god, it’s the plea in his voice. 

“Other than the sun, the closest star to Earth is Proxima Centauri. It’s...it’s 4.22 lightyears away,” Buck answers. “In 2016 they discovered an Earth-sized planet that um, that orbits it. They called it Proxima b. They aren’t...they aren’t sure if it’s habitable.”

“That’s...that’s so cool.” Eddie’s voice is pained; Buck wonders how hurt he is, if he can even tell himself. “What else?”

Buck racks his brain, because for some reason, this is comforting to Eddie, and Buck will do anything-- _anything_ \--to bring a little comfort to Eddie right now. “The Great Red Spot, on Jupiter? It’s actually a storm that’s been going on for more than 350 years, Eddie.”

“That’s...that’s a long time.”

“Right? And it’s so big, you can fit three Earths inside of it!”

“Also…” There’s a sound, a half whine, half whimper noise that cuts through Buck, straight to his heart. “Also cool.”

“We’re coming, Eddie. We’re going to be there soon.” It’s all he can say; he’s not allowed near the building, not with his hurt arm, his probable concussion, but he knows it’s true.

It has to be true.

“I know. I know...I know you’re trying.” Another sob, another shot to Buck’s heart. “Tell me something else?”

“The Andromeda galaxy is closest to the Milky Way. Well, not technically. Technically there are some minor galaxies between us--and can you believe there are _minor_ and large galaxies?--but the Andromeda galaxy is the closest large one. It’s a spiral, and you can see it without a telescope.”

“That’s...that’s the one you...you and Chris saw...saw on...saw-”

“Yeah, the one we saw on that stargazing trip this summer,” Buck finishes, flinching as he hears the trembling of Eddie’s breath. “Eddie, you have to stay with me, okay, babe? I know it hurts, I know...I know you’re scared, but I need you to stay with me.”

“Y...yeah, Buck, I...I’m trying. But...but you’re wrong. It’s starting not to hurt anymore.”

_Fuck_.

“Will you...will you tell me something else?” He’s barely talking, but he’s trying, Buck _knows_ he’s trying, and if Buck has to spout off fact after fact until he’s going to google to find something new, he’s going to do it to keep Eddie trying. “What about...what about that...the rover thing you and Chris were fawning over?” 

“The Perseverance Rover? I didn’t know you were listening.”

Eddie had been sleeping on the couch, his head in Buck’s lap, Buck’s fingers trailing through his hair as he and Chris watched the landing on TV. He’d been half asleep under Buck’s soft ministrations, and Buck was sure he didn’t remember a thing about that afternoon, or that it was all hazy maybes.

“Buck?”

“I...I didn’t know you were listening. I thought you’d been asleep.”

“It’s a little fuzzy, but...I remembered when I woke up, tried to...tried to Google it so I could remember. Be-because it was important to you...to you and Chris, so it was...was important to me, too.”

Buck knows he loves Eddie; hell, he’s known that for months, years, since well before they started dating, but this is the first time he thinks _I don’t want to lose him_.

The first time he thinks _I can’t lose him_.

“Perseverance is looking for signs of life on Mars. It landed in the Jezero Crater; they named the landing site after Octavia E. Butler. She’s a sci-fi author; I downloaded one of her books to read. The rover is the size of a small car, and it’s supposed to be collecting soil and rock samples that’ll eventually make their way back to Earth to be studied. That’ll take a couple more missions, but they’re already being planned. The rover brought a helicopter with it to test its flight capabilities on Mars. It’s called Ingenui-”

There’s a scream that rips through the radio, and it’s _Eddie_ , and Buck...he blanks. He’s yelling into the radio, telling Eddie to hold on, that it’s okay, that he loves him as he’s scrambling out of the ambulance, Hens’ threats be damned. It’s Eddie, and he’s hurt and Buck can’t sit there listening to him hurt and do nothing to help, because it’s Eddie.

It’s the love of his life.

He’s stumbling towards the collapse (and maybe Hen was right about that concussion) when he sees them lifting the backboard Eddie’s on onto a stretcher, and he swears his heart stops at the sheer agony in Eddie’s voice as he begs them to stop. Chim’s got his hand pressed against Eddie’s side, repeating “just hold on, Eddie, hold on,” in between talking to Hen. Bobby’s on the radio with someone, but he stops talking as he sees Buck. 

And Buck can’t look anywhere but Eddie, his face contorted in pain as his hand grips around Chim’s wrist, as he begs for him to stop.

“Buck, c’mon, bud,” Bobby’s voice breaks through his focus, and he feels the man’s hand on his shoulder. “We need to hurry.”

“But Eddie-”

“Eddie needs the hospital, and the ambulance can’t leave without you. C’mon.” 

He moves automatically, methodically, one step, another, back to the ambulance in a trip that he won’t remember later (but they need to leave and Buck has to be in the ambo and that’s what repeats in his head until he’s back in his seat). Bobby claps him on his good shoulder once before jumping out, turning just in time to help load the stretcher with Eddie on it. 

Eddie’s hand immediately reaches for him.

Buck holds on as tight as he can.

“Ev...ev’n, tell me...tell me something about space,” Eddie murmurs, grimacing as Chim presses against his chest. He’s fading, and they can all tell, but Buck isn’t willing to let him go without a fight.

“Planets not in our solar system are called exoplanets. There could be at least a trillion of them in our galaxy alone, including Earth-like ones. The...the first Earth-sized exoplanet was found in 2014 and it orbits the habitable zone of its star. And they’ve found one that has a tail, like a comet. It’s super close to its star and leaves a trail of dust and clouds as it moves. Though they’ve only confirmed like 4000, another 5000 await approval as exoplanets. NASA launched a spacecraft named Kepler to look for others.

“Speaking of comets, they orbit the sun, and are made up of mostly frozen ammonia, methane, or water. They usually only have a lifespan of a couple thousand years, which is short in space time. Halley’s Comet can be seen on Earth every 75 or so years? It’ll be coming by again in 2061, which is a lot sooner Comet Hall-Bopp, which was seen in 1997 and won’t be visible again for 2300 years.” Eddie’s eyes are still on him, blinking owlishly at him as he talks, so Buck swallows, ignoring how his own arm and head are throbbing, and wracks his brain again.

He talks about Saturn next, because he and Chris had spent one Saturday morning learning about Saturn for Chris’ science project. He tells Eddie about how Saturn is the farthest-out planet one can see with the naked eye. He tells him how it takes nearly 30 years for Saturn to orbit the Sun, and how it’s the flattest of all the planets in the solar system. How it has 82 moons, 7 different groups of rings, and was first recorded by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC. He’s going hoarse, but he’s keeping Eddie awake (out of it, not talking, but _awake_ , and focused on Buck, and letting Chim work), so it’s worth it.

They make it to the hospital as Buck runs out of things about Saturn.

\--//--//--

Eddie’s first aware of a distant beeping and a dull ache that he’s pretty sure is going to be bad once he focuses.

Later, minutes, seconds, he’s not sure, as the fog clears, he’s aware of Buck. Of Buck’s voice, of the pressure and warmth of Buck’s hand wrapped around his own. “--the shorter the lifespan, so massive stars die much quicker than a star like the Sun, in millions of years versus billions. They all die because they run out of gas, but the way they die depends on how big they are. But all stars, when they die, leave behind material and gases and stuff that makes new stars, so that’s kinda cool, like a circle of life for stars. And don’t worry about our Sun; it’s middle-aged, even at four and a half billion years old; they estimate it still has at least 5 billion more years to burn, so we’re going to screw up our planet long before the Sun does.”

“That’s...that’s comforting,” Eddie whispers, feeling Buck’s hands tighten over his own as he slowly peels his eyes open. “Hey, _mi amor_.”

“You almost died right in front of me and the first thing you do when you wake up is _hey, mi amor_?” There’s no heat behind the words, and Buck’s already lifting a spoon with an ice chip up to Eddie, waiting patiently as he lets it melt. To Eddie, he looks worse for wear, dark circles under his bleary eyes, the arm holding the cup of ice in a black wrap, dark bruising trailing down his face. 

And yet he’s still the most beautiful thing Eddie’s ever laid eyes on.

It takes a second for Buck’s words to sink in, and his eyes widened, startled. “I almost...almost died?” He doesn’t remember.

Until he does.

It starts with the single thought: _I’m trapped_ , and then it all floods back to him, hearing the building creak, shoving Buck out the door before it all came tumbling down on him. Waking up to pain _everywhere_ , but radiating from his right side, head pounding, and being able to hear Buck calling for him through the radio.

He remembers thinking he’s going to die alone.

He remembers thinking that he’s going to leave Chris and Buck alone, to swim through their grief together, and how is his son going to cope with losing a second parent?

He remembers asking Buck to talk about space, because it’s the thought he clings to as he waits to be rescued ( _please, someone, find me_ ), Buck and Chris huddled in Chris’ bed as they go through his big book about space like the nerds they were.

He remembers screaming as pain ripped up his side as Chim and Bobby and Hen finally pulled him out.

He remembers finding Buck’s arm in the ambulance, and his fading _tell me something about space_ as Chim works on his side and Hen drives as fast she can and Buck stays by him, tears rolling down his sweaty, dirty face, and tells him exactly what he wants to know.

He vaguely remembers Saturn.

“I...how bad was I hurt?”

“Collapsed lung, broken ribs, nastly laceration to your side from the concrete that was pinning you. Honestly? It could have been worse, even if it didn’t feel like it then,” Buck answers, bringing the hand he’s holding up to kiss his middle knuckle. “Hopefully I’ll be able to bring you home soon.”

“That’s...that’s good.” He accepts another piece of ice, and by then, there’s a flurry of nurses and doctors coming in. They ask Eddie questions, only some of which he can answer, and prod his side in a way that shoots pain through his entire body. He clutches Buck’s hand as tight as he can then, and Buck lets him, the silent strength when Eddie needs him to be. He gets a timeline on his recovery (hopefully, if everything keeps going well, he’ll be out of the hospital in four days, _thank God_ ), and then they’re gone, and it’s just Eddie and Buck again.

“Are you okay?”

And Buck...Buck has to laugh, because Eddie’s the one in the hospital bed, Eddie’s the one who almost died, and yet it’s Eddie asking if he’s okay, as if his sprained wrist and bruised face is anything in comparison. He thinks he may be freaking Eddie out, though, so he nods. “I’m fine, baby. You were the one trapped in a building asking me about _space_.”

Eddie half-shrugs, wincing at the pull in his side. “I needed something to remind me what I was hanging on for. Who I was hanging on to. You and Chris...you like space. It was an easy choice.”

_Who I was hanging on to._

_You and Chris...you like space._

_Tell me something about space._

_You and Chris...something to remind me what I was hanging on for. Who I was hanging on to._

_Evan, tell me something about space._

_Who I was hanging on to._

“Marry me.” Buck blurts it out before he can think about it, too overwhelmed with the fact that _Eddie had him talking about space while he was dying so he could remember why he wanted to fight because it was something Buck and Chris shared together that didn’t involve him._ Eddie’s eyes are wide, surprised, and now it’s Buck’s turn to shrug, because they’ve been dating for a while and living together since the pandemic started and Buck can’t see his future without Eddie and Chris in it, and Eddie just had a near death experience and held on by listening to something his son and boyfriend cared about.

Buck never wants to let him go.

“Evan-” Eddie starts, but Buck shakes his head, moving his chair as close to Eddie’s bed as he can get, resting his elbows on the mattress as he brings Eddie’s hand back up, Eddie’s eyes on him, studying him. “You almost died, Eddie. I was so scared I wasn’t going to get to see you again. I was so scared of what I was going to have to tell Chris. You two are my everything, and I don’t...I can’t see myself with anyone else, ever again. I love you too much. So...marry me. We’re a family now, we both know that, but let’s make it official. And then I will spout off space facts for you whenever you need to be reminded who you have here, always waiting for you.”

“Can I talk now?” Eddie murmurs, and Buck nods, his heart breaking just a little. What if Eddie says no? What if he doesn’t feel the same? What is Buck going to do then? “I already have a ring for you. I was waiting until Griffith Observatory reopened to ask you, so that we could go with Chris and I could watch you two nerd out like you do and it could be one of the happiest days of my life.” He reaches with his free hand to cup Buck’s face, reeling him closer, though Buck is so cautious with every wince and flinch of pain. He doesn’t want to hurt Eddie anymore than he already is. He presses the softest of kisses to Eddie’s lips. “So, uh, my answer is yes. Always yes. Just...let me make a big production out of it later?”

It takes time, but Buck does. They’re with Chris, and Eddie is right: it’s one of the happiest days of their lives. 

All is right in the universe.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what this writing style is. I don't even know if it's good. 
> 
> I hope it's good.
> 
> Thanks in advance for all the comments/kudos, and if you want, come follow me [here](https://signsofsam.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.


End file.
